Day 1 with the iPad: Glares, Apps, & eBooks
Apr 17
I recently got an iPad and it’s been both an amazing and frustrating experience so far. I had it shipped this morning and it was such a joy opening the box and seeing the much hyped product in front of me. At the end of the day, I just couldn’t resist the Apple cultist fan-boy that lives in my heart. Totally overwhelmed the logic flow in my brain, haha! Anyway, over-all the positives outweigh the negatives so I have no regrets *yet* in making this purchase. Let me just take this opportunity to share with you guys how’s it been so far with the iPad. I’ll be writing more about this in the next few days so if you’re interested in buying one, read up so you can make an informed decision.
Apple did a phenomenal job with the user interface and the design. The iPad just looks insanely nice and it even feels better when it’s in your hands. I went to Greenhills after giving a talk in iBlog 6 to look for accessories and each time I would take it out I’d literally get glares from people. It actually became uncomfortable so I just kept it in my bag for the most part of the day. One of the best moments so far that I’ve had was when one of my friends approached me and said if she could have a picture. I thought she wanted to have a picture of us. I started to position myself for a photo but she told me that she wanted to have a picture with the “iPad”. Epic fail, Carlo. Epic fail.
Browsing the web, checking out photos, watching videos, and playing around with the Calendar were very good experiences. I loved surfing the web on the iPad. It feels very satisfying to be able to just flick and scroll down a complete web page with just one hand. I now understand what Steve Jobs said in his keynote speech when he said that browsing is one of the best features of the iPad. He wasn’t joking when he said that.
My only concern with the design of the iPad is that it’s actually not as light as it’s projected to be. It’s a bit heavy especially when you’re holding it up for a while.
This is probably one of my biggest complaints. It’s so damn hard trying to fill the iPad up with apps. I literally had to research and read up on various forums just to find out what to do. The local iTunes store doesn’t have iPad apps yet so you’ll be stuck with the local iPhone apps if you don’t have a US iTunes account. I found a way to create a US account and I was able to fill it up with the necessary information.
The next problem though was the credit card. To shop in the US iTunes store, you need a US credit card. I was able to get through this by purchasing prepaid iTunes Gift Cards through Maximus Cards using my Paypal account which was connected to my local credit card. I got the code, redeemed it, and finally was able to shop for apps. I’ll make a separate post later on on what apps I’ve found to be useful and entertaining.
Lastly, it’s even much harder trying to find accessories for the iPad. There are no stores yet in Greenhills that are selling official iPad gear. I was only able to get a screen protector by asking one of the people at Digital Hub to just cut up the Macbook Pro “15 screen guard. For the case, I just looked for a CAPDASE 9-10 inch neoprene envelope. If you guys know of any store that sells official iPad gear, please do let me know by hitting the comments.
Now let’s talk about eBooks. This was one of the big reasons why I bought the iPad. I’m a voracious reader and I was excited to buy stuff from iBooks. However it looks like you need a US credit card to buy from the store since it’s connected to your iTunes account (argh). The selection is also a bit limited compared to Amazon. I ended up just downloading the free Kindle iPad app and I bought eBooks from Amazon using my local credit card. The Kindle iPad app is nothing short of amazing. Being able to put notes, highlight sections, and bookmark is a bookworm’s dream come true. I already bought several titles from Amazon this afternoon.
That’s it for now! I’ll be writing about the various apps I’ve downloaded and bought later. 
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I started to position myself for a photo but she told me that she wanted to have a picture with the “iPad”. Epic fail, Carlo. Epic fail. << LOL at this ahahahaha. Grrr, I want an iPad!. Too bad, walang flash ang browser since most of the time ay lagi akong nagamit nun for FB games. Sana in the near future skyfire can make a browser for the iDevices because skyfire can do flash and silverlight. Since nakapagsubmit na din ang opera ng opera mini sana pati ang Skyfire.
Im waiting for opera mini as well. I don’t think apple will support flash anytime soon though.
OMG Carlo, your iPad is a celebrity and you are its PA hahahaha! Btw, Andrew is requesting if you could use it as a phone, hold it up to your ear and take a picture. He desperately wants to see someone do it.
Haha will do April!
Thank you for sharing your first impressions with the iPad. Good read.
“Being able to put notes, highlight sections, and bookmark is a bookworm’s dream come true.” And all this without ‘damaging’ the book
Best of all everything is synchronized so your notes will reflect when you read the books on your other Kindle installations. Mine will arrive next month, I’m already losing sleep waiting haha
Keep it coming Carlo. A little more convincing and I’m going to get me one too.
I’ll be writing app reviews soon.
My sister told me to check out your site. My wife got me an iPad for my bday a couple of days ago and I have not slept since then -:). I’m having the same problem finding a case for it. I already asked a friend to buy me the apple case in the US but I’ll have to wait till next week. I found a P120 case in CDRKing as a temporary solution as the ones in greenhills are just too expensive. So far I’m super happy with it as i’m able to read my magazines using the Zinio App. Now my wife won’t complain about all my old magazines making “kalat” in the house. Maybe that’s why she got it….
Infomax is actually selling various cases but at insane prices. They’re selling the silicone skin for a whopping 1800 and the leather one for 2500.
Ya I saw it the other day. I’m sure the price will go down in a month or two. Hopefully I can get my “apple” case soon.
I’m still waiting for this tablet to touch my fantasies hehe. Although still lookin’ forward to have one this may since i wanna try it for R&D of ebook publishing for our company..
to all who thinks that ipad is an epic fail, all of you can kiss my dog’s ass.